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Study Cites Strong Green Job Growth

Where the green jobs are, according to Pew. Click image to see full-sized map.

A new study says that the number of green jobs in the United States grew 9.1 percent between 1998 and 2007, about two and a half times faster than job growth in the economy as a whole.

The study, from the Pew Charitable Trusts, also breaks down green job growth on a state-by-state basis.

Green jobs are defined here as those belonging to the “clean energy economy,” which the study calls one that “generates jobs, businesses and investments while expanding clean energy production, increasing energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, waste and pollution, and conserving water and other natural resources.”

Unsurprisingly, California has the most green jobs — more than 125,000 — followed by Texas at over 55,000. Oregon is the only state where green jobs represented more than 1 percent of employment.

Idaho led the way in green job growth, with 126 percent more such jobs over that time period, followed by Nebraska at 109 percent. New Mexico, Oregon and Kansas all posted just above 50 percent green-job growth.

Nine states — including New York and New Jersey — saw the number of green jobs decline from 1998 to 2007, with the largest loss (albeit from a small base) coming in Utah.

A number of states — Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska and Ohio, as well as the District of Columbia — experienced job losses in the overall economy from 1998 to 2007, but added green jobs.

Over all, some 770,000 jobs in the nation are tied to the clean energy economy, the Pew researchers found — and they predicted more growth in the sector. By way of comparison, the “fossil fuel sector” of utilities, coal mining and oil and gas extraction accounted for 1.27 million jobs in 2007, the study said.

The study also discusses clean technology patents. The lion’s share — nearly 47 percent — of the clean-tech patents registered between 1999 and 2008 have been for batteries (although the number of battery patents is falling). The next largest share was fuel cells at 25.6 percent. Solar accounted for 8.7 percent of total clean-tech patents.

“Green jobs are defined here as those belonging to the “clean energy economy,” which the study calls one that “generates jobs, businesses and investments while expanding clean energy production, increasing energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, waste and pollution, and conserving water and other natural resources.”

with such a nebulous definition, it shouldn’t be hard to continually goose the statistics regarding this ever expanding category of “green jobs.”

control the language and you control the debate — and the population, by controlling the very limits of thought.

orwell postulated this; he didn’t invent it. he was merely commenting on the insidiously effective control of language as he saw it utilized by the left.

“control the language and you control the debate”.
For decades the corporate media and the oil companies sold America on the idea that environmentalists were anti-jobs, anti-growth and anti-American. If America had spent a fraction of what it did subsidizing oil and automobiles on “greener” technologies and paid the true costs of environmental degradation, GM wouldn’t be going bankrupt and we wouldn’t be buying cars from Fiat.

Considering that 90% of the offices in America recycle copy paper, which would qualify them as “green companies” surely the green jobs in America should be over 75% of the current jobs?

With such a vague definition of green jobs, I am not sure why there are only 770,000 green jobs in the US? I think someone needs to re-add the numbers.

I know, create a new Obama Czar to track Green Jobs: The Green Jobs Czar. With a $100 million budget, it could hire 600,000 people and immediately increase government spending on salaries and lower unemployment by increasing the federal budget and pass that onto those not working in green jobs (Green Jobs Tax). Solution to the budget, unemployment issues and deficit is now solved.

The report says total U.S. jobs grew by 3.7 percent over a decade. But the BLS numbers show job growth of 11.1 percent during the same period. Did you look into this discrepancy, and if so, what is your explanation for it?

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How are climate change, scarcer resources, population growth and other challenges reshaping society? From science to business to politics to living, our reporters track the high-stakes pursuit of a greener globe in a dialogue with experts and readers.